Portable, soft-sided insulated containers may be used to transport articles that may best be served cool, such as beverages or salads, or warm, such as appetizers, hot dogs, and so on. Such containers are also used to carry liquids, whether hot liquids, such as soup containers, coffee or tea, or cold liquids such as beer, soft drinks, or other carbonated beverages, juices and milk. The containers are typically made in a generally cube-like shape, whether of sides are of equal length or not, having a base, four upstanding walls, and a top. The top wall is often a lid which opens to permit articles to be placed in, or retrieved from, the container. In soft-sided coolers, the main closure of the lid has tended to depend on the closing of a zipper, often a zipper running around three sides of a rectangle, with the fourth side being hinged.
It may be that some people would prefer not to have the sometimes cumbersome bother of opening the main closure, particularly if it requires the use of two hands, and if the process is awkward. They may prefer the use of a closure member that can be used with one hand, such as a zipperless closure member. Further, while opening the main closure member to fill the insulated container may be appropriate, and may occur in the kitchen or at another loading location where full access is desired and convenient, it may also be that when the unit is being used, opening the full main closure member may lead to more rapid heat loss (or gain, as may be) than if a smaller, auxiliary, closure member were used.
Furthermore, when an object is removed from the cooler, it may be that it would be convenient to have some place to rest that object temporarily. It may be that one wishes to put down a drink in a glass while reaching for a can of ginger ale or cola to freshen a drink, or to have a place where a lemon or lime can be sliced suitably. For whatever reason, it may be desirable to have a place for resting objects, even if merely to free one's hand to close the cooler. It may also be convenient for that resting place to be adjacent to the easily accessed opening; for that resting place to be firm, such that objects placed upon it may, be less prone to wobble or tip, and for that resting place to be washable such that it may be wiped clean with a cloth should drinks or other objects be spilled on it. Further still, it may be convenient for that resting place to be such as may discourage, or limit, the extent to which objects may slide if the surface is not precisely level, as may be the case at a picnic, at a sporting venue, or at the beach.
In the event that the insulated container is a collapsible insulated container that may be collapsed or folded to a collapsed position when not in use, it may be that a rigid working surface, or table top, however it may be called, may be mounted in such a way as not to obstruct movement of the assembly to the folded or collapsed, or storage condition. Alternatively, the rigidity of the work surface may define a frame, or stiffening member, that, when in place, may tend to encourage the assembly to maintain its shape when in use.